Day 4 & 5: Mestia & Ushguli

Our Route to Mestia

It was a 3.5 hour drive from Zugdidi to Mestia where we stayed for two nights. We had earlier thought of driving all the way to Ushguli but after reading from the internet that we would need a four-wheel drive to get to Zugdidi we dropped the idea of staying there.

Mestia and Ushguli were parts of the Svanetic Region, missing out on Ushguli would seem like a incomplete visit. So though we could not drive into Ushguli we still visit the place by using public transport (4 wheel van)!

The road after Zugdidi was a two lane road, passing though houses on both sides. After sometimes the houses lessen and soon it was just green lands/hills on both sides. Occassionally there were some interesting sceneries.

After about an hour of driving we saw a waterfalls by the side of the road so we came down to explore. It was Delpak Waterfalls, a small waterfalls that fanned out near its base. There was also a store selling local honey by the side of the road near the falls.

The second water falls was Dog’s waterfall which was about 30 minutes from Delpak waterfalls. Both waterfalls were no big deal” but they provided good breaks for some “legs stretching exercises”.

After Dog’s waterfalls, 5 Km down the road was a two storeys building, a cafe/restaurant (Tobari). We went in for a coffee break. The coffee was black and bitter  costed 6Gel/pax. We did not enjoy the coffee but enjoyed the break

Immediately after the Restaurant we came to a crossing where we had a good view of  Enguri River. This 213km long river originated near Ushguli and helped to provided hydroelectric to the area. The river emerged from the highest mountain, Shkhara, of Georgia, winding through the mountain valleys before empting into the Black Sea, southwest of Georgia.

After the river we took the right branch of the fork road and drove onward. About 45 minutes later we began to see the snow mountains and the sceneries turned more beautiful. We stopped our car by the road several times and came down for some photos taking.

Our road was by the side of Patara Enguri River and from the road it sloped down to Patara Enguri river in the valley. Sitting in the valley across the river were beautiful Svaneti villages. The villages and their backdrops were stunning!

Behind the villages were mountain ranges and more valleys. These mountains were  lusciously “green” at their bases but their tops were capped with brillantly white snow. Runnng down the valleys between the ranges were white rivers flowing passed the villages and feeding into Patara Enguri River.

We figured from google map that we were looking at the village of Svipi. Interesting we did not see any road leading to the villages. So how did the villagers get in and out? By hiking?

As we were reaching Mestia we encountered more cows loitering on the road. We had to wait a bit for the slow moving animals to get off the road.

So far the roads from Zugdidi to Mestia were sealed road. There were a short sections of poorly maintenance where the roads were wore off. Our rented sedan had very poor suspension so the drive was definitely not very comfortable. We took about 4.5 hours to reach Mestia from Zugdidi as we had many stops (sightseeing and coffee break) along the way.

Mestia

Soon we drove into the center of Mestia town. The town was rather quaint, it was an old village but well maintained. There were propers roads , the building though looked old were not rundown. We saw supermarkets, banks, restaurants and a very modern Police station when driving down th main road.

It was raining so we abandoned the idea of exploring the town but drove straight to our stay at Mestia. We had intentionally chosen a place with a great view. After a long drive it was wonderful to rest and relax in our room. We were able to view the beautiful Mestia from the huge windows of our room despite the heavy drizzle that went on outside.

Mestia was located in the Svanetic region of Georgia. Svanetic was located in Northwestern part of Georgia and was one of the most mountainous regions. It was largely inhabited by Svans a Georgian ethnic subgroup.

Unique to the region was Svan towers.The towers were 3 to 5 storeys high, they were either free standing or attached to residential houses. The thickness of the tower walls decreased with height giving them a tapering appearance. These were fortified towers  for defense purposes where family sought refuge during times of attacks which seemed to be very common in the ancient period.

The window of our double room overlooked one the oldest district, Lanchvali in Mestia. The old houses with their tall Svan towers were a sight to behold. Whenever we were back at our stay we would make a hot drink and sat by the windows to glaze out into the beautiful town.

Ushguli

From Mestia to Ushguli was about 1.5 hours. Ushguli was a community of four vilages located at the head of Enguri gorge in Svaneti of Georgia.

Ushguli was not as developed as Mestia and we understood that near the last part of the route to Ushguli the road was inpassable to non-four wheel drive. Our rented car was a normal two wheel sedan so the only way to visit Ushguli was to go there on public transport. We bought our return tickets to Ushguli from one of the many bus stations on the main street of Mestia.

The bus stations were easy to spot. They had huge sign boards listing the name of other Georgia towns where they provided transfer  services. We paid 90Gels for two of us. The lady selling the tickets asked for our hotel name as the van driver would pick us from our stay the next morning and drop us off in the evening on the return trip.

The next day a mini Van arrived about some 20 minutes late at our hotel. Pickup time was supposed to be 9.30am but it was close to 9.50 when we boarded the van. The van was already filled with 5 other passengers and we were the last two. All the seats with the best view were already taken.

After 40 minutes our driver made a stop. This first stop was  at the “Tower of Love”. One version of the legend of the tower was about a impossible love between a beautiful lady and a married hunter, another story was about a widow moaning for her dead husband. The tower was a three stories building by the side of the river and entry was at 2Gel/pax.

None of our group bother to climb the tower, we were too busy taking photo/selfies of the beautiful surrounding. Then we were back into the van going forward.

At some stage the road condition became very back. The slope by the side of the road had collapsed and black stones/mud tumbled all over the road with water gushing down. Luckily our vehicle was able to cross the “dangerous” stretch.

At about noon, our van arrived at Ushguli. Our driver drove to Cafe Bar Enguri located  at the 2nd village (Chazhashi). We were given about 4 hours to roam around and to meet back at the cafe for our trip back to Mestia.

After a quick cafe latte (27Gel/cup) we were ready to explore Ushguli. We walked up a hill, just outside the cafe where a black tower stood . According to google map the place where the tower stood was called “Queen Tamar Castle”, but all we saw was a tall black tower! There was no palace.

From hill top where the tower stood  we had a great view of Chazhashi village all the way to the first village, Murkmeli.

Since we still had a couple of hours left we trekked on to Chvibiani (3rd village) and Zhibiani(4th village). The roads to these two villages were mud/dirt roads full of stones, not easy to walk at all. We were thankful that we did not chose to stay in Ushguli as it would be impossible to drag our luggages through these roads/lanes.

After the 4th village, the landscape got very exciting. We saw snow mountains! Mountain Shkhara, was far but looked so near and huge, it was a nine summit mountain bordering Russian and Georgia. It was the highest mountain in Georgia.

We saw a trek that lead into valley towards Mount Shkhara (height of 5200m)  and according to google map it would lead to the Shkhara Glacier Trail head. This was a 20 km return trek that would need about 5 to 6 hours to complete. We supposed hikers would need to stay overnight  in Ushguli or had their own 4 wheel vehicle so that they needed not depend on the limit time given by public transport van driver.

Soon we ran out of time and did a slow trek (30 minutes) back to Enguri Cafe to meet up with our group. Once the group assembled we were on our way back to Mestia. A long two hour drive. Mid way we stopped the driver and came down to have a look of Mount Ushba. Ob our early ride into Ushguli this morning Mount Ushha was covered under clouds.

Mount Ushba had two peaks, South and North Ushba. The height of South Ushba was 4700 meters and North Ushba was 4690 meters. Ushba was among the 100 most difficult peaks in the world and was considered the most difficult peak to climb in the Caucasus.

Dinner

We had dinner in Mestia town, in the highest rated restaurant (google map). It was Family Kitchen Vichnashi. Lovely dinner for the price of 40Gel for two. We sat indoor at the begining but quickly moved outdoor when a table was available. It was more fun to eat our dinner in the outdoor space and watch the “people” go by.

Our Stay in Mestia

We stay was  Mestia Panorama booked on booking.com. A double room with a view and ensuite toilet costed 234Gel for two nights, breakfast not included.

When searching for suitable lodging in Mestia, we were captivated by the stunning view that could be seen in one of the rooms in Mestia Panorama. We booked the “Deluxe Double Room with Bath”

Our room was on the top level of the two storeys house. The house had a couple of guest rooms a guest dining cum sitting room and a  guest kitchen. The place was tastefully furnished, modern and comfortable. Our host stayed in another building beside Mestia Panorama and could easily reached via whatsapp.

We made use of the guest kitchen to cook our first evening dinner and two breakfasts in the two days. We bought some eggs and ham in the supermarket by the main road and had a great time eating in the guest dining room. The view from the dining room was simply lovely as beautiful as the view from our room!

Simple homecooked meals

Other Accommodation in Mestia